Meet the Family
by Winterowl312
Summary: "Well, Ash, at least she's pretty." In which Ash salts Thea's orange juice, Mary-Lynnette meets the Daybreakers, and David wears peanut-buttered shoes. Will our Daybreakers ever be normal? I doubt it. AshxMary-Lynnette


**Disclaimer: I don't own Night World.**

Ash Redfern was definitely not a morning person. So when the Daybreakers stumbled into the dining room to find him already seated and grinning to himself, several people automatically checked their pockets for their wallets and felt their faces to make sure he hadn't drawn on them while they were asleep. Ash pulled pranks on his fellow Daybreakers frequently enough for them to be wary when he looked especially pleased with himself.

"Well, you look happy," Galen stated suspiciously, at the same time that David warned, "I swear, Redfern, if you put peanut butter in my shoes again…"

Ash just smiled lazily, not doing anything to calm the fears of the others. If anything, people began to shift nervously from foot to foot, wondering if they'd find snakes or something equally horrifying in their beds that night.

"Thierry told me he's flying in Mary-Lynnette today. She should be getting here in a few hours."

"Mary-Lynnette?" Delos asked. "Your soulmate?"

"No, my guinea pig! Yes, my soulmate, idiot." Ash didn't lose that dreamy look in his eyes, but now he looked slightly annoyed too.

"So now you'll finally shut up about her?" Eric teased as they all took their seats.

"Shut it, Ross," Ash growled. Eric grinned at him. The rest of the soulmate pairs started to pour themselves milk and butter toast, assured by the fact that Ash was eating himself. He hadn't done anything to the food or the room in general, then.

Little did they know, however, as the lamia sat back and smirked, that Ash had salted the orange juice…

…

Mary-Lynnette rang the doorbell of the mansion and tried to calm her racing heart. She'd hardly ever ventured out of Briar Creek in her life, and she'd certainly never been to someplace like Vegas. The city was all neon lights and giant casinos, and at night the city was lit up so brightly you probably couldn't get even a glimpse of the stars if you tried. It was all more than a bit overwhelming.

A girl about her age answered the door. She had fiery red hair and silvery-blue eyes, and she towered over Mary-Lynnette. "Are you Mary-Lynnette?" she asked.

Mary-Lynnette nodded and the girl suddenly threw back her head and screeched, "Aaaash! Your soulmate's here!" She offered the girl in the door a predatory grin and let her in, stating, "My name is Jez. Everyone else is upstairs or else being rounded up now."

"Mary-Lynnette Carter," Mary-Lynnette said.

Jez grinned. "I know who _you _are. Ashy-poo hasn't shut up about you since I arrived here."

All Mary-Lynnette could think was, _Ashy-poo?_

The house was impressive. The red-haired girl led Mary-Lynnette past several busts and portraits—Mary-Lynnette was surprised that they weren't smashed to pieces, if this wild girl was an example of the teenagers that dominated this house—and up a winding staircase and into a long corridor.

"This is where we all live." She gestured at several doors; some had names carved or written into them—she saw one that appeared as if someone had gouged 'Jez and Morgead: Keep Out!' into the pine with a pocket knife, and another one painted light blue with a sign that read 'Gillian and David 4ever!'—and many had photographs of couples pasted to the door.

An unmarked door was flung open and two boys came fleeing out. The taller boy had dark, wavy hair and bright yellow eyes, the other sandy-haired with hazel eyes. Jez called out to them.

"Eric, Delos! Have you seen Ash? His soulmate just got here."

The dark-haired—Delos—boy gave her an incredulous look. "Who exactly do you think we're running fr—" he began. He was cut off by Eric, who slapped a hand over the boy's mouth. "Nope! Haven't seen him," Eric chirped unconvincingly. Then Delos pried Eric's hand off of his mouth and shot the other boy a glare that clearly stated, _Next time you do that, I _will _kill you._ By the look on Eric's face, Mary-Lynnette was pretty sure he got the message.

She and Jez narrowed their eyes at the boys, who were not so subtly trying to escape down the hall. "Now if you'll excuse us—"

Eric was interrupted by the door swinging open and slamming against the wall hard enough for it to shatter into splinters. "Eric! Delos! I am going to _kill _you!" Ash's voice rang out.

"And that would be our cue," Eric panted, right before the two took off again.

Ash raced out and rounded on the two girls standing bewildered in the hallway. He started to speak, perhaps to interrogate them on Eric and Delos's whereabouts; before he said a word, his mouth dropped open.

"Mare?"

Mary-Lynnette allowed herself to smile at his expression a moment before he smashed his lips against hers. She kissed him like she hadn't seen him in forever, which she supposed was partly true. Phone calls didn't merit nearly the same amount of closeness and absolute completion the soulmate principle did.

_I've missed you, Mare._

_ Me too. I love you._

_ I love you._

Mary-Lynnette didn't know how long they stayed like that, hugging each other, Ash's face pressed into her hair, but after a while they were startled apart by Jez. She shifted uncomfortably and coughed into her fist.

"We—we should probably get going now," she said. "Morgead says they're ready upstairs."

Ash grinned at his cousin. "I didn't think you could get embarrassed, cuz."

Jez gave him a look. "We're late, is all. This is probably the only chance you'll catch us all together in one place and I'm not wasting it."

_I wouldn't call it wasted… _Ash began.

Mary-Lynnette gave him the same look Jez had. "Let's get going then."

…

By the time they reached the library Ash had recounted the entire story of why he was chasing Eric and Delos. Apparently the human/vampire duo had taken it upon themselves to lock Ash in a closet (equipped with oak doors) after several hours of hearing solely about the wonderful and brilliant Mary-Lynnette Carter—much to the relief of the rest of the Daybreakers, Jez added.

"Thirty minutes of non-Mary-Lynnette-related peace," she sighed dramatically. "No offense, of course," she added to Mary-Lynnette.

"Jezebel…" Ash warned.

"Don't. Call. Me. Jezebel," was Jez's reply through gritted teeth.

The doors were impressive. Thick, dark-stained wood, they looked extremely heavy. But Jez flung them open as if they weighed nothing. "I give you," Ash muttered from behind Mary-Lynnette, "Circle Daybreak!"

They didn't look like much. Eighteen squabbling teenagers sat in an enormous room. There were the people she could instantly tell were Night People, like the boy she'd met—or rather, tried to keep her soulmate from murdering—Delos or the elfin girl with copper curls, and the ones that were obviously human, like the boy Eric or the girl with fox-colored hair and brown eyes that looked like an athlete. There were several stacks of papers lying on the table and several more sheets flung in random places around the room. Even now they were preparing for war, Mary-Lynnette noticed.

The fighting stopped abruptly as everyone turned to stare at the three in the doorway.

_One…_

_ Two…_

_ Three…_

"Well, Ash, at least she's pretty."

That from someone in the back, a vampire, by the looks of him, with dark hair and bright green eyes. Mary-Lynnette had just enough courage to look indignant as Jez tackled the boy with cries of, "You already _have _a soulmate, idiot!"

Mary-Lynnette gave a small wave to the people who hadn't turned to watch Jez grapple with her soulmate. No one waved back.

_C'mon, Mare, they're not that scary._

_ Are you kidding? They look like they want to eat me for dinner!_

_ Naw, we're on a strict no-human diet here, _Ash said with a hint of laughter_. No one will eat you—well, Keller might…_

"Not helping, Ash," she muttered at him. "Hi," she told the crowd. "I'm Mary-Lynnette Carter." She gave them a pointed look—a please-stop-staring-at-me-before-I-break-down-and-try-to-walk-back-to-Briar-Creek look.

_Someone _seemed to notice her discomfort, at least. A girl with straight, fair hair and a strawberry-colored birthmark on her cheek stood up. "Hello, Mary-Lynnette," she said. "I'm Hannah Snow. If Jez would like to introduce you to everyone—Jez? Jez!"

"Huh?" Jez's head popped up from behind the sofa. Her red hair was mussed and she looked like she'd stopped fighting with her soulmate halfway through and started kissing him instead. The looks from around her told Mary-Lynnette this wasn't unusual behavior from the two. "Oh, sorry, Lady Hannah."

She stood up and attempted to fix her hair. "Well, Mary-Lynnette, I suppose we can go in order of arrival." She grabbed Mary-Lynnette's arm and started to tow her to the center of the room, Ash trailing behind.

"That's Lord Thierry and Lady Hannah. They're the ones who flew you in to Vegas this morning. Lord Thierry's a vampire and Lady Hannah's an Old Soul. That means she's a human that's been reincarnated through the ages. They met during the Stone Age or something—it's a very touching story." She was speaking a mile a minute and spun Mary-Lynnette around so roughly the girl almost fell over. "Then there's James and Poppy. They're both vamps—James is lamia like Ash and Poppy's a made vampire. James is a distant cousin of the Redferns. —"

"Jez," Lord Thierry interrupted. "A little slower please. The poor girl looks like her head's going to explode. I promise Morgead will still be here when you finish."

The couple mentioned blushed crimson. "Yes, Lord Thierry," Jez mumbled. She repeated James and Poppy's story, a bit slower this time. "Any questions?"

"One," Mary-Lynnette said. "James is a cousin of the Redferns, you said? Just how many Redferns are there?"

Jez shot her a grin. "The Redferns are the most influential vampire family in the Night World," she explained. "In Circle Daybreak…five, if you count James and Quinn. But we just keep the name, having pretty much been disowned and prices put on our heads since joining the Circle. For example—" She turned Mary-Lynnette around until she faced a couple sitting on the couch, both with dark hair, the girl with bright green eyes. "Rashel and Quinn burned an entire enclave with ten of the most famous made vampires, including Lily and Hunter Redfern, to the ground last year"—the pair waved at Mary-Lynnette—"and Delos and I vaporized the survivors a few months after that." She grinned. "So…we're not on the best of terms with the folks right now."

"Even before that, they were looking for a reason to kick us out of the family. We aren't easy to get along with," Ash said.

"And they prove it every day with Sharpie mustaches and salted orange juice," a tall girl with blonde hair and violet eyes added. Mary-Lynnette wasn't surprised when she shot Ash a glare at the end.

_You salted her orange juice? _Mary-Lynnette asked disapprovingly.

_Have to do _something _around here, _he said with a shrug.

"Ash Redfern, you're impossible," she muttered. She turned to the girl who had spoken. "I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"Thea Harman. Don't worry—we're used to the pranks by now. He once put syrup in my shampoo bottle."

"Thea!" Ash squeaked. "Don't tell her tha—" He broke off with a yelp as Mary-Lynnette casually stepped on his foot.

"You know," the boy called Quinn mused, "I think we're going to like having you here, Mary-Lynnette."

"And Pierce said _we _acted like a married couple," Morgead muttered.

Jez continued the introductions without incident and Mary-Lynnette learned a lot of _interesting _things about her soulmate. Like how he sometimes switched the blood in the fridge with cherry grenadine just to record the results of Poppy's sugar high, and the many, _many _times he'd put peanut butter in David Blackburn's shoes. But she also discovered how he'd changed. Saving Gillian from the vampires in the Black Iris Club and fighting beside the rest of the Daybreakers when the Night World vampires and werewolves had attacked the mansion to kidnap Hannah.

_You really have changed, _she thought softly.

_I told you I would, _Ash murmured. _And it was so worth it._

"Well, that's it," Jez sighed after she introduced Lupe and Nilsson. "Circle Daybreak. We're an immature, lovesick group of teenagers that plays way too much Truth or Dare than has got to be healthy—"

"Stupid fanfictioners," Eric muttered.

"—and you're part of it now, Mary-Lynnette. Good luck."

Mary-Lynnette didn't doubt she'd need it.

_-The End-_

**Well, did you like it? Tell me in a review please. **

**I would have had this up earlier, but the site would cooperate and I was canoeing in the Boundary Waters for the past week and a half. Honestly, you will never find a more beautiful place in the Midwest/Canadian border. The only reason I even came home at all was because I missed my indoor plumbing. **

…**As this authors becomes increasingly longer than the actual fic.. **

**I feel like this story will get more feedback than my other one, When You're Gone, simply because this one features Ash and Mare. But I'm okay with that. Reviews are reviews, after all. Good night,**

**Winterowl312**


End file.
